Baking

Chocolate Cupcakes

(adapted from the 'Chocolate Cake' recipe in Womens Weekly Old Fashioned Favourites)

Ingredients
125g nuttlex (dairy free margarine spread, for a lighter texture and flavour)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 (275g) cups caster sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 (200g) cups plain flour
1 1/3 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup (50g) cocoa
2/3 cup (160ml) water

Chocolate Icing
1 tbsp cocoa
2 cups icing sugar
2 tsps nuttlex
water (enough to soften)

'Orchid' Icing
1/2 cup icing sugar
4 drops red colouring
1 drop blue colouring
water (enough to soften)

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180degC
2. Place all cake ingredients into a mixmaster and mix on low until combined and then high for 4 minute
3. Spoon tablespoons of mixture into cupcake pans
4. Bake in moderate oven for 15 minutes or until no longer gooey on the top!
5. Cool on wire racks
6. Beat icing ingredients together until smooth paste consistency (for chocolate and orchid separately)
7. Ice cupcakes with chocolate icing and pipe orchid coloured icing on in shapes, patterns or letters

Chocolatey Midnight-Snack Brownie

This brownie is richly chocolatey, smooth and dense yet incredibly moist. Reduce the cooking time for more puddingy, gooey goodness.

CAUTION: may make the prosepct of sleeping soon after consumption quite impossible!

Ingredients

180g block of good quality dark chocolate

180g unsalted butter

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup caster sugar

3 eggs (beaten)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup natural yogurt

1/2 cup almond meal

1/2 cup spelt flour

1/4 cup of nuts, dried fruit or raspberries (optional)

Method

1.   Preheat oven to 180 degC

2.   Melt butter and chocolate together

3.   Stir in sugars, vanilla and cocoa

4.   Stir in yogurt

5.   Stir in eggs

6.   Stir in almond meal and flour (followed by optionals)

7.   Pour into slice-tin lined with baking paper

8.   Bake at 180 degC for around 15-20 minutes

9.   Dust with icing sugar

10. Eat warm with icecream, chocolate sauce, raspberry coulis or my personal favourite - frozen raspberries straight from the freezer!